Freshwater Science

Fisheries and Oceans Canada has an active freshwater research program, with science activities being conducted in various locations across Canada. The department also collaborates with a variety of partners on freshwater science, including other government departments, universities and non-government organizations.

The following list of freshwater science activities is current as of April 2013.

Program Area	Project Name	Location	Lead Region
Aquatic Animal Health	Studies of disease in freshwater stages of salmon life history	Fraser and Skeena Rivers; selected lakes and rivers	Pacific
Aquatic Animal Health	Addressing disease risks for Manitoba lake sturgeon	Manitoba	Central and Arctic
Aquatic Animal Health	Advancement, validation and harmonization of serological and genetic diagnostic assays for koi herpesvirus	Manitoba	Central and Arctic
Aquatic Animal Health	Validation of a quantitative RT-PCR assay to detect infectious pancreatic necrosis virus	Manitoba	Central and Arctic
Aquatic Animal Health	Viral pathogens in northern Dolly Varden	Manitoba	Central and Arctic
Aquatic Animal Health	Regulatory testing for diseases in fish raised in freshwater hatcheries	Atlantic Provinces and Quebec	Gulf
Aquatic Animal Health	Disease testing in response to disease/disease agent investigations in freshwater	Atlantic Provinces and Quebec	Gulf
Aquatic Invasive Species	Canadian Aquatic Invasive Species Network (CAISN) - Research network with universities, government scientists	Various locations across Canada	All regions
Aquatic Invasive Species	National risk assessment of recreational boating as a vector for aquatic invasive species	Canada	Central and Arctic
Aquatic Invasive Species	Canadian Science Advisory Process: National risk assessment of commercial shipping as a vector for aquatic invasive species	Great Lakes; Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans	Central and Arctic
Aquatic Invasive Species	Monitoring invasive spiny-rayed fish in British Columbia lakes and rivers – yellow perch	British Columbia	Pacific
Aquatic Invasive Species	Science support for British Columbia snakehead work (identification, collection, management plans)	British Columbia and United States	Central and Arctic
Aquatic Invasive Species	Potential effects of zebra mussels on walleye production	Ontario and Manitoba	Central and Arctic
Aquatic Invasive Species	Development of methods to include climate change considerations into aquatic invasive species risk assessments	Great Lakes	Central and Arctic
Aquatic Invasive Species	Science activities (research, monitoring) in support of the Great Lakes Asian Carp Strategy	Great Lakes	Central and Arctic
Aquatic Invasive Species	Organisms in Live Trade research, data collection (support for regulations)	Various locations across Canada	Central and Arctic
Aquatic Invasive Species	Aquatic invasive species risk assessment tool development	Great Lakes (international)	Central and Arctic
Aquatic Invasive Species	Science advice for Asian carp socio-economic impact assessment	Great Lakes	Central and Arctic
Aquatic Invasive Species	Assessing invasion risk posed by domestic, coastal and international shipping activities	Great Lakes	Central and Arctic
Aquatic Invasive Species	Development and testing of ballast water treatment technologies	Great Lakes	Central and Arctic
Aquatic Invasive Species	Development and testing of inspection tools for ballast water treatment	Ontario	Central and Arctic
Aquatic Invasive Species	Quantification of Sea Lamprey escapement routes around dams	Credit River, Lake Ontario	Central and Arctic
Aquatic Invasive Species	Evaluating the probability of aquatic invasive species movement through canals between the Great Lakes, including the Welland Canal and the St. Marys River	Great Lakes	Central and Arctic
Aquatic Invasive Species	Monitoring aquatic invasive species in Great Lakes area of concern	Great Lakes	Central and Arctic
Aquatic Invasive Species	Sea Lamprey Control Program	Great Lakes (rivers and streams)	Central and Arctic
Aquatic Invasive Species	Assessing the efficiency of low- ecosystem- impact methods for controlling and removing the invasive species smallmouth bass from a lake in New Brunswick	Miramichi Lake, New Brunswick	Gulf
Aquaculture Science	Development of predictive modelling tools to assist with freshwater aquaculture site licensing decisions	Lake Diefenbaker, Saskatchewan	Central and Arctic
Aquaculture Science	Effects of cage culture on freshwater benthic communities	Lake Huron and Lake Diefenbaker	Central and Arctic
Aquaculture Science	Design of a benthic monitoring program as a condition of license for cage aquaculture operations in Ontario	Great Lakes	Central and Arctic
Biotechnology	Assessing the population genetic and demographic effects of introgression of domesticated salmonid strains into wild populations	British Columbia lakes and lab studies	Pacific
Biotechnology	Stock delineation of Arctic Char, Dolly Varden and Bull Trout in the Arctic	Various locations across the Arctic	Central and Arctic
Climate Change	Development of a management model for the West Coast Vancouver Island Area G Chinook Troll Fishery to improve economic viability to fishers and conservation benefits to southern BC Chinook stocks	Vancouver Island	Pacific
Climate Change	River temperature forecast models	British Columbia rivers	Pacific
Climate Change	Habitat alteration assessment tool improvements: incorporating temperature and hydrology changes	British Columbia rivers	Central and Arctic
Climate Change	Fishery adaptations to range extensions and contractions of freshwater, anadromous/marine fishes and marine mammals due to climate change: conflicts between temperate invaders, Arctic species and northern communities	Northwest Territories, Nunavut	Central and Arctic
Climate Change	Vulnerability of nearshore Lake Ontario fish habitat and fisheries in a changing environment	Lake Ontario	Central and Arctic
Climate Change	Climate change adaptation risk assessment, including prediction of climate trends and evaluation of impacts, vulnerabilities and opportunities	Great Lakes, St. Lawrence, and prairie drainages (i.e., Lake Winnipeg)	Central and Arctic
Climate Change	Impact of climate change on the water levels of St. Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec City – Forecasts for year 2050	St. Lawrence River	Quebec
Climate Change	River temperature monitoring and forecast	Main rivers in southern Gulf of St. Lawrence	Gulf
Climate Change	Effects of exploitation and climate variability and change effects on Arctic charr	Newfoundland and Labrador	Newfoundland and Labrador
Ecosystem Assessments	Studies of fish/forestry interactions	Fraser Basin and Vancouver Island	Pacific
Ecosystem Assessments	Identifying Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSA) and Ecologically Significant Species (ESS) in coastal areas of the Great Lakes: adapting criteria for determining ‘significance’ from DFO’s Oceans Action Plan	Great Lakes	Central and Arctic
Ecosystem Assessments	The road to ecosystem redemption: Comparative study of degraded and pristine large lakes of North America and central Europe and using Ecopath	Great Bear, Great Slave, Lake Manitoba, Great Lakes	Central and Arctic
Ecosystem Assessments	Monitoring Lower trophic levels in the Great Lakes including mysids and diporeia to understand food web dynamics and fisheries productivity	Great Lakes – Lake Ontario	Central and Arctic
Ecosystem Assessments	Monitoring phytoplankton and primary production in Great Lakes Areas of Concern to understand ecosystem restoration	Great Lakes	Central and Arctic
Ecosystem Assessments	Monitoring the microbial loop and primary productivity in the Great Lakes to understand food web dynamics and fisheries productivity	Great Lakes – Lakes Superior and Huron	Central and Arctic
Ecosystem Assessments	Modelling ecosystem processes in Hamilton Harbour, an Area of Concern in recovery	Great Lakes	Central and Arctic
Ecosystem Assessments	The effect of habitat fragmentation on overall productivity	Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador	Central and Arctic; Newfoundland and Labrador
Ecosystem Assessments	Community Aquatic Monitoring Program	Main estuaries of southern Gulf	Gulf
Fish Habitat	HydroNet – a national research network to promote sustainable hydropower and healthy aquatic ecosystems	Various locations across Canada	All regions
Fish Habitat	Water temperature dynamics downstream of reservoirs	Various locations across Canada	National
Fish Habitat	Studies of the impact of hydroelectric dams on fish and fish habitat in selected systems	Fraser River	Pacific
Fish Habitat	Thermal aspects of fish entrainment risk in Kinbasket Reservoir with relevance to other large hydropower facilities in Canada	Columbia River, British Columbia	Pacific
Fish Habitat	Cumulative effects at multiple scale: case studies of the development of habitat-population assessment tools using Fraser River salmon	Fraser River	Pacific
Fish Habitat	HEAT (Habitat / Ecosystem Assessment Tool): Transforming and improving an existing tool for use in evaluating multiple stressors	Great Lakes	Central and Arctic
Fish Habitat	Development of a protocol to validate fish habitat models and test their transferability	Northwest Territories	Central and Arctic
Fish Habitat	Development of eco-region benchmarks of fish productivity in freshwaters: incorporating habitat, water temperature, nutrients and flow as primary drivers of productivity of fishes that support commercial, Aboriginal and recreational fisheries	Various locations across Canada	Central and Arctic
Fish Habitat	Predicting and forecasting the effects of multiple stressors on fish assemblages of large lakes of Canada	Great Lakes	Central and Arctic
Fish Habitat	Developing and defining improvements in the hydrologic, hydraulic and habitat models used for Evaluation Criteria in the Athabasca and Upper Peace Rivers	Athabasca and Peace Rivers	Central and Arctic
Fish Habitat	Assessment of the accuracy of predicting changes in the hydrodynamic, physical, channel and habitat over time in the Lower Athabasca River due to oil sands withdrawal activities	Athabasca and Peace Rivers	Central and Arctic
Fish Habitat	Field study in Baker Creek in the Northwest Territories to acquire missing information from the impacted Arctic grayling population in Baker Creek	Baker Creek, Northwest Territories	Central and Arctic
Fish Habitat	Develop and validate habitat models and test their transferability	Northwest Territories	Central and Arctic
Fish Habitat	Developing fish habitat suitability indices in Northern Canadian Lakes	Northwest Territories	Central and Arctic
Fish Habitat	Model nutrient dynamics and fish productivity in the Manitoba Hydro system	Manitoba	Central and Arctic
Fish Habitat	Fisheries risk assessment tool for linear crossings of streams	Northwest Territories	Central and Arctic
Fish Habitat	Effects of changing ramping rates at peaking hydroelectric facilities on downstream riverine ecosystems	Ontario	Central and Arctic
Fish Habitat	Measure upper Rainy River critical fish spawning and nursery habitats	Ontario	Central and Arctic
Fish Habitat	Assessing fish habitat to support fish communities in Areas of Concern to evaluate impairment of and restoration efforts for fisheries	Great Lakes (Toronto and Hamilton Harbours, Bay of Quinte, Detroit River, St. Clair River)	Central and Arctic
Fish Habitat	Modelling aquatic macrophytes as fish habitat to evaluate impairment and recovery of fisheries in Areas of Concern	Great Lakes (Bay of Quinte, Hamilton Harbour)	Central and Arctic
Fish Habitat	Assessing fish populations and fish communities in Areas of Concern to evaluate impairment of and restoration efforts for fisheries	Great Lakes (Toronto and Hamilton Harbours, Bay of Quinte, Detroit River, St. Clair River)	Central and Arctic
Fish Habitat	Evaluating fish habitat restoration in Toronto Harbour using telemetry and mapping techniques	Great Lakes (Toronto Harbour)	Central and Arctic
Fish Habitat	Technologies for protecting and monitoring out-migrating fish species near hydroelectric installations	Quebec	Central and Arctic
Fish Habitat	Longitudinal and lateral responses in riverine communities to altered seasonal flow regimes: a comparative analysis of river systems in Ontario and Newfoundland	Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador	Newfoundland and Labrador
Fish Habitat	Evaluating connectivity and fish passage for Atlantic salmon on the Exploits River	Exploit’s River	Newfoundland and Labrador
Fisheries Science	Monitoring abundance and status of Sockeye, Chinook, Coho, Pink and Chum Salmon Conservation Units	British Columbia and Yukon	Pacific
Fisheries Science	Monitoring freshwater commercial, recreational, and First Nations fishery impacts on Pacific Salmon	British Columbia and Yukon	Pacific
Fisheries Science	Monitoring primary productivity and sockeye abundance in selected lakes throughout British Columbia	British Columbia mainland and Vancouver Island	Pacific
Fisheries Science	Monitoring of Fraser River environmental conditions to inform in-season management of Fraser River sockeye fisheries	Fraser River	Pacific
Fisheries Science	Studies of sockeye-stock specific physiology/temperature tolerance	Fraser River	Pacific
Fisheries Science	Studies related to recovery activities of Cultus and Sakinaw sockeye including captive broodstock	Cultus and Sakinaw Lakes	Pacific
Fisheries Science	Development of techniques to monitor the interactions between salmon and freshwater predators	Vancouver Island	Pacific
Fisheries Science	Research and sustainable harvest levels and stock assessment plan of walleye	Tathlina and Kakisa Lakes, Northwest Territories	Central and Arctic
Fisheries Science	Assessment of Great Bear Lake Lake Trout and cisco populations	Northwest Territories	Central and Arctic
Fisheries Science	Research and sustainable harvest levels and stock assessment plan of commercial and subsistence Char and Dolly Varden fisheries	Various Arctic locations	Central and Arctic
Fisheries Science	Synthesis of Lake Trout recovery in Lake Superior	Lake Superior	Central and Arctic
Fisheries Science	Canadian Science Advisory Process: Sylvia Grinnell River Arctic Char stock assessment	Baffin Island	Central and Arctic
Fisheries Science	Lake Sturgeon population estimate and tagging studies	Alberta	Central and Arctic
Fisheries Science	Science advice for striped bass and gaspereau	Miramichi	Gulf
Fisheries Science	Assessment of Outer Bay of Fundy Salmon populations (smolt/pre-smolt, juveniles and adults), adult rearing and releases	St. John River, New Brunswick	Maritimes
Fisheries Science	Diadromous commercial harvest fisheries (gaspereau, smelt, shad, tomcod, striped bass): commercial harvest summaries via logbooks	New Brunswick and Nova Scotia	Maritimes
Fisheries Science	Telemetry studies on Arctic charr and Atlantic salmon to investigate freshwater and oceanographic linkages that determine migration patterns and survival	Pistolet Bay	Newfoundland and Labrador
Fisheries Science	Genetic and genomic evaluations of Atlantic salmon population structure and mixed stock harvests in Canadian and adjacent waters	Newfoundland and Labrador	Newfoundland and Labrador
Fisheries Science	Assessments of South Newfoundland Atlantic Salmon populations (smolts and adults) designated Threatened by COSEWIC	Northeast Brook (Trepassey), Rocky River, and Conne River	Newfoundland and Labrador
Fisheries Science	Research regarding stock recruit relationships of Newfoundland Atlantic Salmon populations to evaluate conservation requirements and environmental factors influencing freshwater production	Newfoundland and Labrador	Newfoundland and Labrador
Fisheries Science	Assessment of Atlantic Salmon populations in 10 rivers in Newfoundland and 3 rivers in Labrador	Newfoundland and Labrador rivers	Newfoundland and Labrador
Hydrographic Products and Services	Waterway Surveys – in support of channel maintenance	Detroit, St. Clair Rivers, St. Lawrence River, St. Marys River	Central and Arctic
Hydrographic Products and Services	Revisory surveys – in support of navigational chart maintenance	Lake Huron	Central and Arctic
Hydrographic Products and Services	Water level monitoring system	St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes Basin	Central and Arctic, Quebec
Hydrographic Products and Services	Recurrent surveys in the St. Lawrence Ship Channel between Montreal and Québec City	St. Lawrence River	Quebec
Hydrographic Products and Services	Occasional hydrographic surveys upon request from the Montreal, Trois-Rivières, Québec City and Saguenay harbour authorities	St. Lawrence and Saguenay Rivers	Quebec
Hydrographic Products and Services	New large scale electronic navigational charts	Lake Ontario, Lake Huron	Central and Arctic
Hydrographic Products and Services	Sailing directions	Georgian Bay, Trent Severn	Central and Arctic
Hydrographic Products and Services	New paper chart editions	MacKenzie River, St. Lawrence River	Central and Arctic, Quebec
Species at Risk	Science on a variety of freshwater species, including Atlantic Salmon, Atlantic Sturgeon, Atlantic Whitefish, Blackstripe Topminnow, Bull Trout, Carmine Shiner, Channel Darter, Coastrange Sculpin, Copper Redhorse, Eastern Pondmussel, Eastern Sand Darter, Grass Pickerel, Hickorynut, Hotwater Physa, Kidneyshell, Lake Chubsucker, Mapleleaf Mussel, Nooksack Dace, Northern Brook Lamprey, Northern Madtom, Northern Riffleshell, Plains Minnow, Pugnose Minnow, Pugnose Shiner, Rainbow Mussel, Rainbow Smelt, Rayed Bean Mussel, River Redhorse, Rocky Mountain Ridged Mussel, Rocky Mountain Sculpin, Round Hickorynut, Round Pigtoe, Salamander Mussel, Salish Sucker, Silver Chub, Silver Lamprey, Snuffbox, Speckled Dace, Spotted Gar, Spotted Sucker, Spring Cisco, Striped Bass, Threespine Stickleback, Warmouth, Western Brook Lamprey, Western Silvery Minnow, Westslope Cutthroat Trout, White Sturgeon	Various locations across Canada	All regions
Species at Risk	Canadian Science Advisory Process: Pre-COSEWIC assessment of Shortjaw Cisco	Northwest Territories, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario	Central and Arctic
Species at Risk	Critical Habitat determination and habitat modelling for ‘at risk’ fish species (Dolly Varden, Bull Trout)	Northwest Territories and North Slope, Yukon	Central and Arctic
Species at Risk	Research on Grass Pickerel and its habitat	Ontario	Central and Arctic
Species at Risk	Assessment of conservation stocking as an American eel recovery tool	Lake Ontario	Central and Arctic
Species at Risk	Development of morphological and genetic tools to resolve taxonomic uncertainties in North American ciscoes	Various locations across Central Canada and Arctic	Central and Arctic
Species at Risk	Standardized juvenile Lake Sturgeon index survey for Lake Huron	Lake Huron tributaries	Central and Arctic
Species at Risk	Develop eDNA techniques for detection of Redside Dace to complement existing survey techniques	Southern Ontario streams	Central and Arctic
Species at Risk	Spatially explicit population viability analysis of Pugnose Shiner in the St. Lawrence River	St. Lawrence River	Central and Arctic
Species at Risk	Development of eDNA methods to detect Spotted Gar in historic, current, and adjacent sites	Lake Erie wetlands	Central and Arctic
Species at Risk	Conduct targeted surveys for undetected populations of Lake Chubsucker in high probability areas with suitable habitat in tributaries of the upper Niagara River	Niagara River	Central and Arctic
Species at Risk	Recovery potential assessment on Atlantic salmon (Anticosti Island), Olive Hickorynut, American eel	Various locations	Quebec, Central and Arctic, Maritimes, Gulf, Newfoundland and Labrador
Species at Risk	Live Gene Banking of Inner Bay of Fundy Salmon	New Brunswick, Nova Scotia	Maritimes
Species at Risk	Assess Live Gene Banking	Big Salmon, Point Wolfe and Upper Salmon rivers (New Brunswick); Stewiacke and Gaspearu Rivers (Nova Scotia)	Maritimes